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Construction
Begins on $600 Million Snowmass Base Village
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Snowmass
Village, CO – July 2017 / Newsmaker Alert / North
America’s largest ski area village development is officially underway and
was celebrated Tuesday night (July 18) as 200 people attented the construction
start on the next phase of Snowmass
Base Village, a $600 million collaboration between three major players
in the mountain resort business — East West Partners (EWP), Aspen Skiing
Company (ASC) and KSL Capital Partners.
This
premier mountain resort development, located at the base of Snowmass Ski
Area, is the largest ski area village development currently underway in
North America.
“I
think this is a game-changer for Base Village and for Snowmass. It’s pretty
rare to be able to bring a hotel like the Limelight, an ice-skating rink,
and all these amenities to a resort that’s 50 years old,” East West managing
partner Andy Gunion said. “Opportunities like this are few and far between.”
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The
next phase of Snowmass Base Village development includes the following
projects:
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The 100-room,
11-residence Limelight Hotel that will feature an indoor/outdoor lounge
and restaurant with a lively après-ski scene, five-story climbing
wall open to the public, fitness center, and hot tubs, all with spectacular
mountain and plaza views. The Limelight will also host Snowmass Mountain
Club, an exclusive private club with member parking, lockers and lounge
space right at the base of the mountain. The mountain-contemporary building
was designed by Oz Architecture, with a clean, crisp interior design approach
from Stonehill & Taylor. Limelight, Snowmass will be ASC’s third Limelight
hotel with existing locations in Aspen, CO and Ketchum, ID.
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A central
public events plaza that will serve as the community’s outdoor gathering
space with an ice-skating rink in the winter that doubles as an events
lawn in summer, as well as fire pits, children’s pop-up fountains and other
community amenities. The plaza was designed by StudioINSITE.
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Lumin
(Building 4), a small, exclusive residential condominium building located
adjacent to the Plaza and Elk Camp Gondola with three residences and a
Four Mountain Sports ski/snowboard and outfitters shop. The building was
designed by a separate team at Oz Architecture with interior design by
The Ranch House.
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The Discovery
Center (Building 6), a public building that is anticipated to include a
number of interactive activities for families and children. Programming
for the Discovery Center is being contemplated around the discovery of
Ice Age fossils found at nearby Ziegler reservoir that captured the community’s
and world’s attention. The building design also calls for a café
and bar with indoor and outdoor seating that spills out onto the plaza.
The Discovery Center is being designed by Harry Teague Architects.
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This fall
construction will commence on One Snowmass (Buildings 7 and 8), including
41 condominium residences. These buildings will also house ground floor
commercial space, the Base Village Welcome Center and a 5,500 sq. ft. medical
clinic. Both buildings are being designed by 4240 Architecture with interior
design by Styleworks.
Notably,
the buildings are being designed by a number of different architecture/interior
design teams who have each brought their own unique interpretation of mountain
contemporary design to the project. This will result in an eclectic village
feel with a common mountain modern architectural vernacular that features
contemporary forms anchored in traditional alpine materials. This whole
approach and design philosophy is a significant departure from the more
uniform traditional mountain resort village designs that have been prevalent
in the past.
“It’s
an entirely new day for Snowmass,” said Mike Kaplan, CEO of Aspen Skiing
Company. “We’ve spent the last decade upgrading the on-mountain experience
with tens of millions of dollars of improvements and now we are excited
to bring the base of the mountain up to the next level. Snowmass will realize
its full potential as one of the best year-round mountain resorts in North
America. We are also thrilled to have the third Limelight Hotel be part
of the mix, and incorporate everything we have learned from the first two
Limelight properties.”
Over
the last 12 years, Aspen Skiing Co. has made nearly 100 million dollars
in on-mountain investments at Snowmass Ski Area, including the Elk Camp
gondola and Meadows beginners’ area, new and renovated on-mountain restaurants,
new and realigned lifts, a new children’s center and other base area amenities.
ASC recently announced an immense list of summer 2018 plans and activities
at the new Lost Forest, including an alpine coaster, canopy tour, challenge
course, climbing wall and expanded hiking and biking trails. These enhancements
are designed to provide new outdoor experiences to increase summer visitation
to the area.
EWP,
ASC and KSL are all Colorado-based companies with deep ski industry roots
and extensive experience in the development of mountain resorts. They are
building upon previous work done by prior owners, Intrawest and later Related
Cos., who completed the first phase of the Snowmass Base Village project.
This initial work included residential condominiums, multiple shops, restaurants
and the Viceroy Hotel – all of which were part of EWP/ASC/KSL purchase
of Snowmass Base Village in December 2016.
About
East West Partners
East
West is a Colorado-based national real estate development and placemaking
company, which was founded in 1986 with the purchase of land in the then
emerging resort of Beaver Creek. Since that time East West (www.ewpartners.com)
has developed more than 60 projects comprising more than $3.0 billion of
residential and commercial real estate in both resort and urban locations
across the country and has been awarded the Urban Land Institutes Award
for Excellence three times, most recently for its work on the Union Station
neighborhood in Denver. EWP has extensive mountain resort development experience,
including Beaver Creek/Vail, Northstar Resort in Lake Tahoe, Deer Valley,
UT and Breckenridge, CO.
About
Aspen Skiing Company
Aspen
Skiing Company (www.aspensnowmass.com)
owns and operates the four mountains of Aspen Snowmass – Snowmass, Aspen
Mountain, Aspen Highlands and Buttermilk – as well hospitality properties
The Little Nell, Residences at The Little Nell, Limelight Aspen and Limelight
Ketchum in Ketchum, Idaho, In addition, Aspen Skiing Company owns and operates
numerous retail and rental locations through the resort and the Roaring
Fork Valley.
About
KSL Capital Partners, LLC
KSL
is a private equity firm specializing in travel, leisure and resort enterprises
in five primary sectors: hospitality, recreation, clubs, real estate and
travel services. KSL has offices in Denver, CO; Stamford, CT; and London.
Since 2005, KSL has raised approximately $7.5 billion in equity capital
commitments. KSL’s current portfolio includes some of the premier properties
in travel and leisure. KSL has a deep history of ski resort management
and ownership throughout the US and Canada. For more information, please
visit www.kslcapital.com.
About
Snowmass Village and Snowmass Ski Area
A
renowned winter playground and vibrant mountain community just 8 miles
from downtown Aspen, Snowmass Ski Area consistently ranks as one of the
best ski and snowboard hills in the world. In addition to unmatched natural
beauty and over 300 sunny days a year, Snowmass Ski Area offers guests
3,332 acres of multi-level terrain and boasts the second largest vertical
drop in the United States. 95% ski-in/ski-out lodging, 37 restaurants,
numerous shops and boutiques, a bounty of off-piste activities, and a friendly,
small town feel beckon visitors year-round. For more information and a
complete calendar of events and activities, please visit: www.gosnowmass.com.
Media
Note:
Snowmass
Base Village site map and the latest building renderings available upon
request.
Media
Contact:
Sheryl
Barto
O
Communications
970-704-1112 |